1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus and to a method of storing encoded data blocks generated by such an image processing apparatus.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In an image processing apparatus, for example a graphics processing unit (GPU) used to process graphics images, there is often a requirement to encode the various frames of image data in order to reduce the memory requirements of the system. Typically an image frame will be considered as a plurality of data blocks which collectively form the image frame, and each data block will be encoded separately. The image processing apparatus will hence include encoder circuitry for performing encoding operations on input data blocks in order to generate encoded data blocks, and those encoded data blocks will then be stored to memory within the system, from where they can then be retrieved by other components within the graphics system, for example a display controller which will then decode the various encoded data blocks in order to generate image frames for display.
Whilst the encoding of image data can significantly reduce the memory requirements of the system, the memory requirements are still a significant issue in many modern image processing systems, and are becoming more and more significant as the resolution of the images increases, and hence the volume of data being processed increases.
The volume of encoded data that needs to be stored to memory not only affects the memory requirements of the system, but also gives rise to bandwidth issues within the system as that encoded data is passed between the encoder circuitry and memory, and then subsequently passed from the memory to a further component of the system for decoding.
It would be desirable to develop a technique which alleviated such memory and bandwidth requirements within an image processing system.